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He-Man should only kill in extreme situations.
He-Man should kill in battle, but is merciful to surrendering foes.

I'm in between these two but I voted for the latter. he shouldn't go out of his way to kill anyone, but a battle is a battle. I figure he should be as violent as Mr. Incredible. but since he's got a sword it would seem more violent than that.

I don't think the possibilities are biased as you claim what are the alternatives to disarming someone with a sword other than the ones presented. Striking the enemy with a sword and banishing them to another dimension like Conan the Adventurer.

I don't think the possibilities are biased as you claim what are the alternatives to disarming someone with a sword other than the ones presented. Striking the enemy with a sword and banishing them to another dimension like Conan the Adventurer.

I didn't say it was deliberately biased, I was pointing out that 5 out of the 6 options all use the weapons for a reason, so it's pretty likely that that will be the general outcome.

If the reason included using weapons as "tools" as it was put in another thread, then it would be 6 out of 6, but I was assuming it was implied that the reason was to use them as weapons.

How is a sword a tool?

We can all agree He-man primarily has a sword. How is a sword a tool you are familiar with with what the definition of word is?

noun
1. an implement, esp. one held in the hand, as a hammer, saw, or file, for performing or facilitating mechanical operations.
2. any instrument of manual operation.
3. the cutting or machining part of a lathe, planer, drill, or similar machine.
4. the machine itself; a machine tool.

I'm surprised that there weren't so many voting for Filmation level violence.

I'd actually be quite surprised if there was. I'd fully understand if people wanted it to be a children's film, but I'd be very surprised if people wanted them to walk around on screen with the weapons hardly being used at all, no mater how fondly they remember the original cartoon.

In a cartoon that would be fine (hence MOTU's massive success on the back of that cartoon), but in a film, I think personally it would limit your ability to suspend your disbelief considerably.

I would say He-Man should kill only in extreme situations. He certainly shouldn't want to just kill anything that moves, but if he were fighting the MOTU equivalent of Doomsday, he would probably have to kill it to keep it from hurting anybody else. Even a pacifist could be forced to kill in extreme situations, much as they might not want to. As shown in the old cartoons, if he were forced to kill something, he would probably quit.

"Cursed be the ground for our sake. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for us. For out of the ground we were taken, for the dust we are... and to the dust we shall return."
- The Book of Eli

I picked He-Man should only kill in extreme situations. I'd prefer no killing, but that won't run in a movie today. An extreme situation I think would probably be in the final movie battle, if at all. And he'd probably brood a bit that it had to resort to that. And that's going lightly... we saw his reaction when he thought he killed someone in "The Problem with Power".

"I won Dungeons and Dragons! And it was advanced!!" -Pierce Hawthorne-

Teela and the royal guard are about to be trampled by a swam of Eternian Beasts being controlled by Beastman, the royal guard are throwing everything they have at them, with no victory in sight e-man swoops down, and rounds up the creatures leading them into humane traps and pitfalls. Once he's done he punches Beastman out with one punch.

He-Man doesn't kill. Everyone else can kill in self defense (they are soldiers) But He-Man is a hero and heroes don't kill.

'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:36-40).

So fictional characters like Hercules, King Arthur, Perseus, Jason and Argonauts aren't true heroes in your eyes because on some occasions they have killed albeit in extreme circumstances even though several mentioned have magical gifts or in Hercules superhuman strengh.

Your examples are ancient heroes who lived in a harsh and cruel kill or be killed world. The definition of a hero has changed through the centuries. Eternia is a modern civilization in a modern world that has been tamed much like Earth today. He-Man in that regard is more comparable to Spiderman or Superman. Modern "super" heroes are created for the enjoyment of children and these modern heroes don't kill. He-Man has never killed before, (except for some monsters in the comics once or twice) so why start now?

'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:36-40).

So fictional characters like Hercules, King Arthur, Perseus, Jason and Argonauts aren't true heroes in your eyes because on some occasions they have killed albeit in extreme circumstances even though several mentioned have magical gifts or in Hercules superhuman strengh.

That's an excellent example. Hercules in the Legendary Journeys went into several wars over the episodes/films without personally killing anyone, despite regularly using a sword and other weapons. Hercules was the most powerful man in the universe, and has basically the same values as He-man. If he can get hours and hours of screen time where he doesn't kill people despite desperate situations, and all in an incredibly popular live action incarnation, an hour and a half of a He-man movie should be no problem.

I think it should have the same sort of killing as in movies like Willow. Destroy low level evil warrior minions, demons, and monsters, but spare their cowardly masters. You can't kill Skeletor in the first movie, maybe TrapJaw, Tri-Klops, or Whiplash.

As shown in the old cartoons, if he were forced to kill something, he would probably quit.

He wasn't forced to kill anything in the old cartoons. He was duped into thinking he'd caused the death of an innocent bystander, hence his quitting in shame. At no point did the cartoons show him having to kill in battle.

And if he does have to kill in battle, why would he quit? What would that accomplish, other than leaving an opening for his enemies to exploit and showing him as incapable of making difficult decisions in a responsible manner? Police officers and soldiers don't quit when they have to kill in the line of duty. The notion that He-Man should would make him look irresponsible and childish.

I voted for the MYP violence. I'd say He-Man will only use his weapons in response to when his foe uses weapons as a means to even the odds. As far as the battle axe is concerened, he's not always going to be fighting baddies that are close to his size like Beast Man and Trap Jaw. I would reserve the battle axe for large beasts like Spydor and Mantisaur. He shouldn't have that much of a problem with killing them in an extreme situation.

Otherwise, I wouldn 't expect He-Man to fight Whiplash one-on-one with his weapons if Whiplash is only using his tail.